JMS sex crime victims to receive compensation; Jung Myung-seok faces sentencing Monday

A court has ruled that the Christian Gospel Mission, also known as JMS, bears joint liability alongside its leader Jung Myung-seok for sexual crimes committed against female followers — finding that the church organization itself was mobilized in the abuse and that its campaign to discredit victims as false accusers constituted illegal secondary harm.

According to legal sources, the 12th Civil Division of Daejeon District Court, presided over by Judge Im Seong-sil, recently ruled in a damages lawsuit filed by three victims — Maple, a Hong Kong national; Amy, an Australian national; and a Korean woman identified only as A — against Jung, the JMS church, and Kim Ji-seon, the church's second-in-command. The court ordered Jung and the church to jointly pay Maple 250 million won ($185,000) plus interest. Amy is to receive 80 million won plus interest, and A is to receive 40 million won plus interest. Kim was also ordered to share in the payment to Maple, bearing 30 million won of that amount plus interest alongside Jung and the church.

The three victims are among those in the quasi-rape case for which Jung received a final sentence of 17 years in prison from the Supreme Court in January 2025. Jung was convicted of brainwashing victims between February 2018 and September 2021 into believing he was the "returning Jesus," rendering them psychologically unable to resist, before sexually assaulting or groping them. He was also found guilty of filing false criminal complaints against Maple and Amy. Kim was separately convicted of aiding Jung in quasi-similar rape offenses between March and April 2018 and received a final sentence of seven years.

In 2024, the victims filed a civil lawsuit arguing that the church and Kim bore responsibility for Jung's sexual crimes. Maple sought 500 million won in damages, Amy sought 150 million won, and A sought 100 million won. The victims also cited the church's repeated claims — made through rallies and press releases — that the victims had filed false accusations, arguing this constituted secondary harm.

Jung and JMS argued that the church bore no liability because the sexual crimes were Jung's personal misconduct. They also rebuffed the claim that the church's attacks on the victims were unlawful, saying they amounted to the exercise of the right to defense in criminal proceedings. Kim likewise denied participating in Jung's crimes.

The court, however, recognized the liability of both Jung and Kim on the basis of their criminal convictions and found the church jointly responsible as well. It cited the church's doctrine — which portrays Jung as Jesus, a saint, and a being even higher than Jesus — as having influenced the sexual crimes, and noted that the church's organizational apparatus was used in the process of selecting and managing attractive female followers as so-called "faith stars."

The court also rejected the church's argument that the victims themselves bore some responsibility. The church had claimed the victims were grossly negligent in failing to recognize that Jung's demands for physical contact were not normal religious activity. The court found, however, that the victims had been so thoroughly brainwashed by the church that they were unable to resist Jung's actions.

Regarding the church's use of press releases and other materials to claim the sexual crimes were fabricated, the court said the conduct likely constituted defamation or insult by attacking the victims' character and moral standing. It also rejected Jung's and the church's claim that filing criminal complaints against the victims for false accusation was merely an exercise of the right to defense.

"Jung, as the perpetrator of the sexual crimes, knew better than anyone that the accusations were not false," the court said, ruling that his filing of criminal complaints against the foreign victims for false accusation was an act of reporting fabricated facts with the intent to have them criminally punished.

In calculating damages, the court considered the habitual nature of the offenses, the high degree of culpability, and the severe psychological trauma suffered by the victims. The court also criticized Jung for continuing to deny the crimes and showing no remorse even after receiving a 17-year prison sentence.

Meanwhile, Jung faces a separate first-instance sentencing Monday in a case in which he is charged with brainwashing 16 other female followers through religious manipulation between 2018 and 2022, rendering them unable to resist, and sexually assaulting or groping them on more than 80 occasions.